You can buy pretty much anything online these days — books, clothes, even groceries. But until recently, most customers still had to go to a physical store to buy a mattress.

In fact, retailers seemed convinced it simply wouldn’t make sense to sell a mattress in any other way. Of course, customers would want to visit a store and try out the mattress before they buy. But that was all before Casper came along.

Casper is a mattress brand that is looking to disrupt the whole industry by selling a “mattress in a box” that customers can buy online and then simply send back if they aren’t satisfied. It might seem strange. But the idea gives customers a little more time to try out the mattress and see if they like it. Previously, customers could simply feel or maybe lay on a mattress for all of 5 or 10 minutes in an attempt to make a proper decision.

The company has made on concession to convention recently signing an agreement with Target to carry some products in stores. The stores will carry pillows, sheets and other accessories responding to feedback from some customers that they wanted to actually feel some of the materials before buying. But the mattresses will still only be sold online.

Disruptive Customer Experience

But going back to Casper’s unconventional central business model, your small business could learn a thing or two from this type of creative thinking. Put some extra thought into your customer’s experience. Think about what’s best in your market and what’s worst. Consider if there are any disruptive changes that might give consumers more options — and you an advantage over competitors.